The Alliance Française de Sarasota is dedicated to promoting French language and Francophone culture in the Sarasota and Manatee area through local educational, cultural, and social events. Our mission is to encourage and develop knowledge of the French language and Francophone culture, foster cultural, intellectual and artistic exchanges between the USA and French speaking countries.

Offer a wide range of cultural programs to attract a more diverse membership and student base ($500)

Continue our partnership with the Sarasota County Library System and New College

Background Statement

The Alliance Française de Sarasota was founded in 1982, as one of the 100 Alliance Française, chapters in the United States. Alliance Française was founded in Paris in 1883. By the late 1890s, there were over 33 chapters in the USA. In 1902, those chapters formed the Federation of Alliances Françaises USA, of which the Alliance Française de Sarasota is a current member.

Areas Served

Areas Served

Area

FL- Sarasota

FL- Manatee

Areas Served Comments

Service Categories

Primary Org TypeEducation

Secondary Org TypeArts,Culture & Humanities

Tertiary Org TypeArts,Culture & Humanities

Statement from the Board Chair/Board President

One of our challenges is to broaden our membership base. We are addressing this by offering a variety of new and interesting classes to attract persons with an interest in the French language and cultural experiences available at the Alliance Francaise de Sarasota. We also want to elevate our local and state profile by creating an understanding of our unique attributes as the place to go for French culture. We want to make the name Alliance Francaise a household word in the greater Sarasota community, through various marketing efforts.

Statement from the CEO/Executive Director

I believe that we are the only organization in the Sarasota area able to:

Combine French language education for children and adults;

Offer French and bi-lingual activities related to art, music, literature, gastronomy, and travel;

Foster international communication and understanding in a non-political, inclusive, and diverse setting among Americans and French speakers from France, Canada, Belgium, Switzerland and Haiti, among others.

DescriptionThe Francophonie Festival celebrates the diversity and richness of the French language and francophone communities around the world through a series of cultural events and outreach programs presented in March around the globe and we would like to start celebrating this festival in Sarasota.

DescriptionEvery June 21, the longest day of the year, France celebrates Fête de la musique for 24 hours across the nation, as implemented by President Mitterrand and Jack Lang in 1981. We would like to celebrate it here in at Alliance Française de Sarasota.

Budget$1,500

Category Arts, Culture & Humanities, General/Other Music Appreciation

Program Linked to Organizational StrategyYes

Population ServedGeneral/Unspecified US& International International

Short Term SuccessThis event would strengthen our relationship with the local community.

Long Term SuccessThis event will contribute to the mission of Alliance Française de Sarasota by generating public interest in our cultural activities, in this case in francophone music, and in turn attract potential members.

Program Success MonitoringNumber of attendees, volunteer involvement

Program Success Examples

This event has not been launched yet; this year will be its inauguration.

However, its success can be projected based on our annual events, such as Bastille Day, that had great success. Our Bastille Day event has 75-100 attendees every year.

Comments

Program Comments by OrganizationWe Offer a multitude of opportunities to socialize and speak French by offering luncheons, apéros, and coffee conversation mornings.We hold regular and well-attended gatherings for Club Littéraire, Casse-Croûte for discussion of contemporary events, and Ciné Club,

Our challenges are to strengthen the financial footing, to reinforce and grow the French Language School, to expand our outreach in the community, to diversify our membership and student base, and to expand our fundraising initiatives.

Our opportunities are the resources in the local community: the persons with expertise in French language and culture among our membership, our partnerships with other organizations with similar objectives, and the local corporations and organizations interested in sponsoring our events.

Sarasota's population and demographics change greatly between winter and summer, having an adverse effect on our financial situation.

Opportunities:

Up to now, our base membership target has been the city of Sarasota. Over the past few years, there has been tremendous growth to the East of the city and we will be trying to expand our efforts into that area. The demographics there are of younger, working families who are more year round residents than are our city dwellers.

We also see possible opportunities to provide French language courses to Sarasota's two major businesses, tourism and real estate.

In keeping with our mission, we maintain our French language and cultural programs throughout the year, even though we do not cover our costs during the summer months.

Consequently, we lost $7,000 in 2014. This year, we have increased our tuition fees and are cutting costs but we still forecast a loss of about $5,000 without outside assistance.

We have about 200 members. We offer them an extensive library, weekly conversation groups, a French book club, a great movie program, luncheons, opera and ballet outings and events for Bastille Day, and other special occasions. We believe we give our members good value.

We strengthened our administrative capabilities last year and trained an intern. We established a new accounting system and launched a new web page using the Arc-en-ciel platform.

The overall challenge is to continue to offer all the above services at the same high level, while maintaining our financial stability.

Summary:

We need financial assistance to promote our Alliance Française in Sarasota and expand into the new surrounding suburbs. We believe we are taking the necessary steps towards financial stability but we need more publicity for our organization and the work we do for cultivating interest in all things that promote French-American interests.

Financial Comments by FoundationFinancial information taken from Federal Form 990-EZ. Contributions include corporate and foundation support.

THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF SARASOTA COUNTY, INC. IS A REGISTERED 501(C)(3) NON-PROFIT CORPORATION.
A COPY OF THE OFFICIAL REGISTRATION AND FINANCIAL INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE DIVISION OF CONSUMER
SERVICES BY CALLING TOLL-FREE WITHIN THE STATE (1-800-HELP-FLA) OR FROM THE WEBSITE:
WWW.FRESHFROMFLORIDA.COM.
REGISTRATION DOES NOT IMPLY ENDORSEMENT, APPROVAL, OR RECOMMENDATION BY THE STATE. ONE HUNDRED PERCENT (100%) OF
EACH CONTRIBUTION IS RECEIVED BY THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF SARASOTA COUNTY. REGISTRATION #SC-02471.

Profiles in The Giving Partner do not indicate endorsement by partner foundations.